42. Spend a Moment, Every Day,

Thinking of Someone to Love

Earlier in this book I introduced the idea of spending a moment, each day, thinking of someone to thank. Another excellent source of gratitude and inner peace is to spend a moment, every day, thinking of someone to love. Remember the old saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?” The love equivalent might read,

“Thinking of someone to love each day keeps your resentment away!”

I started consciously choosing to think of people to love when I realized how often I could be caught up in thinking about the opposite - people who irritate me. My mind would focus on negative or strange behavior, and within seconds, I was filled with negativity. Once I made the conscious decision, however, to spend a moment each morning thinking of someone to love, my attention was redirected toward the positive, not only toward that one person, but also in general throughout the day. I do not mean to suggest that I never get irritated anymore, but without question, it happens much less frequently than it used to. I credit this exercise with much of my improvement.

Every morning when I wake up, I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then I ask myself the question,

“Who shall I send love to today?”

Instantly, a picture of someone will pop into my mind-a family member, a friend, someone I work with, a neighbor, someone from my past, even a stranger I may have seen o the street. To me, it does not really matter who it is because the idea is to gear my mind toward love. Once the person to whom I am directing the love is clear, I simply wish them a day filled with love. I might say to myself something like, “I hope you have a wonderful day filled with loving kindness.” When I am finished, which is within seconds, I usually feel that my heart is ready to begin my day. In some mystical way that I cannot explain, those few seconds stick with me for many hours. If you give this little exercise a try, I think you will find that your day is a little more peaceful.

This article is from book "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and It's All Small Stuff" by Dr. Richard Charlson.

Bright Power jdkee@shinbiro.com --- Main page -- Don't Sweat the Small Stuff